Nothing says I love you like
by Dreamalitlledream
Summary: A mysterious pair of tickets in a leather embossed folder-What secret is Brennan keeping from Ang and how does Booth fit into it?
1. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: Don't own Bones/anything associated._

Booth sauntered into Brennan's office cocky as always. "Bones, chop chop!"  
Upon examining her office and coming up empty he called out, "Bones?"

"Not here, but I can keep you company" Angela joked flirtatiously.

"Hey Ang, Where's Bones? We had 2 o'clock plans and its now 2:05-she's nowhere to be seen."

"What type of plans? Secret rendezvous?" Ang asked suggestively.

"Please, that's enough Ang. How many times do I have to tell you. We're _just _partners. Just, tell me, where is she?"

"There's nothing _just_ about it and we both know that..."

A different voice piped in: "You can stop harassing Ang, Booth, I'm right here," Bones muttered upon returning to her office.

"What, you're taking her side? You always take her side."

Ignoring this outburst, Bones replied, "Come, let's go before we're late-bye Ang," as if nothing about the situation was remotely odd. She did this all while unloading a leather embossed folder and extracting what looked like two tickets from it before leaving the folder on her desk.

"Bren, wait a sec. Are you going to tell me who's the lucky guy?"

"I don't know what that means!"

"Don't play coy, sweetie; you know exactly what I mean—the tickets you just grabbed…what are you and Booth going to see?"

The absence of an immediate response forced Ang to prompt further, "Bren…?"

This would require some serious detective work.


	2. Chapter 2

_Disclaimer: Don't own Bones/anything associated._

Already out in the parking lot, Booth paused a few feet from his car and turned to Brennan. She could tell by the searching look into her eyes, the one that seemed to know no bounds, that this was no lighthearted affair of the mind. After the rough few days they had had, she was hopeful and yet terrified by the secrets he might divulge with this single revelation. She couldn't help but think, '_Would they be ok_?'—her partnership had evolved, steadily it seemed, into something she wholeheartedly relied upon. Such moments of 'emotional weakness' as she liked to refer to them usually had her spewing out monologues on their irrationality left and right. And yet this was one area in which she had learned to embrace her emotionality—from this emotion, irrationality and all, she could no longer hide. It was in the midst of reaching this conclusion that Brennan finally realized her thoughts had gotten the best of her. Shaking her shoulders with his firm yet gentle grasp, Booth repeated "Bones? Bones? Bones, you with me?"

"Please, Booth. Of course I'm with you. I'm standing right here next to you." After her typical literal Brennanesque response, she paused then. The delivery of her next line was dependent on infusing it with a proper severity of tone, and conveying to Booth, master of emotions, that her annoyance with his behavior was in earnest. She continued, "Plus, you have your hands all over me."

To Booth, Brennan's attempt to shift her own embarrassment at being caught in a dreamlike state onto him did not go unnoticed. He could not let her get away with this so easily.

"Fine Bones. Then tell me this—what did I say to you just before I checked to see if you were paying attention?"

Brennan mentally exhaled a sigh of relief. She had caught a glimpse of teasing in his eyes which she knew right away confirmed that despite her preoccupation with her thoughts, she was right in presuming that he had not yet voiced his _whatever it was going to be_ yet. Playing it off cool she quipped, "You didn't say anything at all so I took the opportunity to get some of my compulsory daily thinking done. Regardless, you know I can multitask—in fact I do it all the time with you."

That was a low-blow Booth thought to himself—admitting she generally only devoted a part of herself to him. Well revenge is sweet he thought and accordingly replied, "Bones, I don't know if you've been mixing fantasy with reality, but we never _do it_."

The one-liner was out of Bones mouth before he even got the chance to take a breath: "I don't know what that means."

"Jeez Bones. You have got to get out some more. Sex, it means sex."

"Oh," she replied. "You should have just said that. I don't know why you have such a problem with the word. It's only natural. In fact we can practice it right now."


	3. Chapter 3

_Disclaimer: Don't own Bones/anything associated._

"Whoa, Bones….what the hell! We are not having sex right here! G-d help me" he muttered the last part to himself.

"I was merely suggesting that we practice saying the word 'sex' not that we actually _do it_ as you prefer to call it. Wait, is it only the having sex right here part that bothers you, or is that we don't have sex in general?"

"Just…never mind. Ok. Let's drop it. End of discussion." How had the conversation digressed so much from the meaningful, sweet appreciation of her presence he intended to express?

Both sat in silence for the first fifteen minutes of the drive, a tad miffed, a bit confused, and a lot worried about what this weekend might turn out to be. Looking at the rearview mirror to change lanes, Booth caught a glimpse of their overnight bags neatly piled in the backseat and he regrouped.

"Bones," he said keeping his eyes on the road. "I'm sorry about before. Let's just forget it ok. What I really wanted to say back there was that I'm really glad you finally spoke up about coming to the game with me. I can't tell you how relieved I was to hear you yelling at me. I was so worried, Bones—so worried. You not talking to me is just, well, it's just unbearable. And Bones, I want you to know….no…you have to know, that I really did want to ask you to come. I truly did…"

By now he had pulled the car over and was looking deeply into her eyes like he had in the parking lot.

"But I was scared Bones that you would say no—that you wouldn't want to come, wouldn't enjoy yourself, and wouldn't want to take the time out of your life for a 'stupid game of sports.' So I asked Hodgins instead.

"Well you're not wrong about the last part. At least, ordinarily, it's true. Baseball to me is not the enjoyable pastime it seems the rest of the country finds it overwhelmingly to be. But somehow, it's different with you. I think I like seeing how happy it makes you."

By now the burning red on her cheeks was matched on his own. She however, suddenly felt the need to hide. Covering her face with her hands, she turned away. But, she couldn't help but take a small peak back to see Booth's reaction. She expertly shifted the positioning of her hands over her eyes so that her left eye was free to partake in this observation.

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	4. Chapter 4

_Disclaimer: Don't own Bones/anything associated._

Meanwhile, back at the lab, Angela rushed off to the Ooky Room in search of Hodgins. Something odd was going on here. Angela could sense it, and not just in the air. It was written all over the quote-on-quote partners' faces—in their demeanor, their speech patterns, their shifty eyes and meaningful glances.

But uncovering their secret would prove to be more difficult than Angela had initially anticipated. A mere twenty feet from her destination, Angela stopped dead in her tracks. Just up ahead was Cam, turning the corner on the lab platform.

Angela looked around for somewhere to hide. She could not be detained again. Cam had a knack for knowing she and Hodgins were up to no good and between the two of them, they had already racked up quite a few strikes against them this month. Angela ducked behind a group of passing graduate students, intent on blending in with the crowd. But it was too late—Cam had already spotted her and was fast approaching.

"Pretending to be an intern, Angela?" Cam questioned.

Angela, always quick on her feet responded easily, "I was just consulting with the graduate students. Bren sent a text about the case that I needed some help deciphering. Turns it out it was just a typo. Ms. uhm Zarandi here saved the day. Isn't that correct Ms. Zarandi?"

Angela was grateful the graduate students' lab coats had their names embossed on them. It had proved helpful on more than one occasion. And, even better, she had a great death stare that could scare any intern into covering for her.

The intern, knowing Angela was Dr. Brennan's best friend, and seeing the secret look Angela had given her, knew better than to contradict Angela. Answering in the affirmative, the graduate student looked pleadingly at Dr. Saroyan to accept her answer and move on. She didn't want any trouble—and trouble there would certainly be if she managed to anger Dr. Brennan's best friend.

Cam wasn't convinced, but something, perhaps having Paul in her life, persuaded her not to push Angela any further today. "Make sure to tell Hodgins I say hello" Cam responded with a smirk. "But, this is a one-time pass, I hope you understand."

"I do. Thanks Cam." And with that Angela ran off to gossip with Hodgins about her best friend and that best friend's everything-but boyfriend.

She found him hunched over the mass spectrometer, test tubes in hand. "Hodgins," Angela prodded. No answer. "Hodgins." Still no answer—he was completely absorbed in his work. "Jack Stanley Hodgins, you listen to me or else…"

His head whipped around. "Yes babe, sorry, what's up?"

Angela, finally receiving the attention she desired launched into a rapid-fire account of the Booth-Brennan activity to which she had been privy. When she finished talking at Hodgins she noticed that his face looked odd. He looked guilty, and knowing for that matter. She hadn't even realized that Hodgins needed to be interrogated, but it was clear that he knew something pertinent. "Spill" Angela said. That was all it took for Hodgins to explain about the tickets. "So you see, he finished, they are probably going to games 3 and 4 of the World Series. Yankees-Phillies. I'm sorry I didn't tell you before that Booth had asked me and…."

"Hodgins, you know I would've given you permission if you had just asked, but right now we have more important things to worry about. Booth and Bren are finally spending a weekend together. A whole weekend Hodgins. A whole weekend. And in his hometown. I don't believe it. I don't believe her. Not telling me. Who does she think she is? Two days of not talking and now…." Angela trailed off lost in thought. "Pack your bags bucko we're going to Philadelphia."

"Yes ma'am" Hodgins responded.


End file.
